What Separates the Real Fans from the Fakes

But whether they are cat or woman, one thing remains the same.

Let reading cats lie.

For more on Harry Potter, go to The Ultimate Torture

For more on Cats, go to Cat Lovers All Know This

For more book-filled posts, go to Six Degrees of Separation

The Ultimate Torture

I like to think that I am strong-willed and able to stand up to any pressure.

But I think there would one thing that would be hard to get through, something extremely painful…

You know if this happened it would be the ultimate torture. Everyone would behave and do what they were told.

Speaking of Twilight, can I just say:

Too bad he didn’t accomplish it.

For more Harry Potter, go to A Man of Great Worth and Respectability

For more on Twilight, go to Every Time I Bring a Girl Over, You Try to Eat Her!: Vampires Suck (2010)

A Man of Great Worth and Respectability

“[He] must be a man of great worth and respectability.

Yes, he is the kindest and best of men.”

-Sense & Sensibility (1995)

Wow, what a week. First David Bowie on Sunday and now we have lost one of the best actors to the same dreaded disease.

Noooooooooo!!!!!!!

Oh Alan Rickman, how I miss you so. We are not ready for you to be gone from us.

Noo!

Alan Rickman was an outstanding actor, no matter what he played you loved him. Part was his looks:

His amazing voice:

And his ability to breathe an incredible amount of life into these roles, so much that they seemed so real.

So I decided to truly honor this great man, I’m going to countdown my top four favorite roles of his.

4) Sheriff of Nottingham from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

I know a lot of people make fun of Kevin Costner, for his lack of accent:

But I always loved this film. And one of my main reasons were because of Rickman’s incredible portrayal of the Sheriff.

Rickman originally was courted twice to play this, but turned it down until they gave him full control of his character. And he does it so perfectly. Crazy, evil, ambitious, logical, and somehow hilarious.

Favorite scene:

Sheriff of Nottingham: Locksley. I’ll cut your heart out with a spoon.

Robin Hood: Then it begins.

Guy of Gisborne: Why a spoon, cousin? Why not an axe?

Sheriff of Nottingham: Because it’s DULL, you twit. It’ll hurt more.

And being the awesomeness that he is, he went through 10 swords in that film. Just weren’t strong enough for him.

3) Alexander Dane/Dr. Lazarus from Galaxy Quest

This role is from the hilarious comedy and parody of Star Trek, Galaxy Quest. 18 years ago the TV show Galaxy Quest was the hottest thing on the TV. Since then, none of the actors have been able to find much other work, being forced to be their characters for conventions, commercials, etc. One day they are transported to a real alien ship by aliens who believe their show to be “historical documents” asking for their help in fighting their enemy. They are forced to work together to save these people, in a most hilarious way.

In this film Alan Rickman’s character Alexander Dane the Spockish Dr. Lazarus, is a brooding, melancholy, mess who is dissatisfied with the way his life and career have gone. Sort of like Arthur Conan Doyle hating Sherlock Holmes, Dane feels the same way about Dr. Lazarus. However, as this group has to really fight, Dane proves that he is just as herioc and amazing as his fictional counterpart.

Favorite scene:

[Quellek has been shot, and is dying. Alexander rushes to him]

Alexander Dane: Quellek? [sees Quellek’s wound] That’s not too bad. We’ll get you to the medical quarters, and you’ll be fine.

Quellek: It has been my greatest pleasure to serve with you. I have been blessed, Sir. I… I… I…

Alexander Dane: Don’t speak, Quellek.

Quellek: You’ll forgive my impertinence, Sir, but even though we have never before met, I have always considered you as a father to me.

Alexander Dane: Quellek… by Grabthar’s hammer… by the Suns of Worvan… you shall be… avenged.

A sad scene, but one of the sweetest. He hates that line, but says it to his biggest fan; knowing he would appreciate it.

For more on Galaxy Quest, go to Don’t Give Up

2) Professor Severus Snape from The Harry Potter Series

This is the one you are probably the most familiar with. In the Harry Potter Series, Rickman plays the crotchety Professor Snape. Truth be told, if it wasn’t for Snape and Draco Malfoy I never would have become a fan of the Harry Potter Series. And if Snape wasn’t played by Alan Rickman, nothing would have induced me to watch or read.

Snape is first portrayed as evil (as Harry suspects him) but in reality is one great, although tragic man. Hurt, abused, bullied and tormented as a youth, his genius unappreciated, the love of his life choosing a popular and way uncooler guy; he was drawn into the false inclusiveness of the Death Eaters. Accidentally putting into motion the death of his love, he turned his back on the Death Eaters and redeemed himself.

However, when a new threat emerges he not only helps Harry by protecting him; although anonymously and ungraciously by Harry, along with becoming a double agent to get Dumbledore his information.

Even more tragic, he is willing to take the place of Draco, protecting him and keeping him from going down a dark path he could not return; dying for him and his students.

Favorite scene:

[Snape blasts Lockhart off his feet in a practice duel]

For more on Professor Severus Snape, go to A Bit Pottery About Jane Austen

For more on Harry Potter, go to The Fans and the Furious

1)Colonel Brandon from Sense and Sensibility

My favorite Alan Rickman role, and the best Colonel Brandon. This was actually the first film I ever saw Alan Rickman in, and my introduction to Jane Austen. I thank/blame Rickman for starting my life long obsession for the author. Thank you.

Colonel Brandon is one of the best Austen heroes. He has such a sad backstory, but still remains kind and good-hearted. When he was younger he fell in love with a girl, but his father broke them up. He went on to India, but she went down an awful life as she fell in love with a man who left her alone and pregnant. She died young, but Brandon took care of her child, raising it as his own. He then falls for Marianne, not caring that she had no fortune, but instead loving her mind and spirit. And even though she may not care for him, he still loves her from afar and wishes her well. When she is injured and caught in the rain, he carries her to safety. He is such a kind, generous, and one of the most amazing Austen men.

Even though some complain that Rickman was too old for the role, I don’t care. No one could create a more caring, compassionate, brave, kind, strong, amazing character the way he did.

Favorite scene:

[after a reading of Spenser’s The Faerie Queen]

Marianne: Shall we continue tomorrow?

Colonel Brandon: No, for I must away.

Marianne: [Worried] Away? Where?

Colonel Brandon: [Reassuring and playful] That I cannot tell you. It is a secret.

Marianne: [Pauses. Looks away, then looks back] You will not stay away long?

[Colonel Brandon can hardly believe that she cares for him. Shakes head no with smile]

 For more on Colonel Brandon, go to God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

For more on Sense & Sensibility, go to Waiter, There’s Some Disney in My Jane Austen

So that’s my countdown to one great man. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you will be missed and left us too soon.

Noo!

For more posts dedicated to a favorite artist/actor, go to Changes, Turn and Face the Strange

The Fans and the Furious

Sorry I missed last week, I had a lot of stuff happening plus my post celebrating Back to the Future’s 30th anniversary and the 4th of July. But here we are with another installment of all things I fangirl over.

Fast & the Furious Franchise

I remember when this film first came out. I didn’t see it in theaters as I was too young, but once they started playing it on TV I couldn’t stop watching it. I loved it!

I would watch it mostly for Paul Walker (still sad about his death) and the awesome looking cars. I may not know that much about them, but I could still appreciate them.

So the first film stars Paul Walker as an FBI agent going undercover to bust racers who have been robbing trucks. I have to admit that I was (and still am) a huge Paul Walker fan and that was the first reason I watched it. Not ashamed.

It’s Paul!

I like Vin Diesel too, but just as an actor. He reminds me a lot of my brother, lookswise.

Anyways, FBI Agent Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) has a hard time trying to infiltrate the group as it is very tight-knit and hardly ever allows stranger. Him racing against Dominic “Dom” Toretto (Vin Diesel), and completely smoking his car doesn’t help his case.

He does catch a break when he helps Dom escape the police. Being the only one who doesn’t run away but helps him out, brings him into the group.

As he spends more time with these guys, he really gets to know them and like them. In fact he can’t believe there is anyway they could be involved with the robberies, as his objectiveness is thrown out the window for friendship.

He even starts dating Dom’s sister.

Eventually he realizes the truth when he hears about them going into the action, and follows them to help keep them safe. When one of the racers is shot during the robbery, Brian blows his cover by calling a helicopter in.

In the aftermath the rest of the group scatter, with Brian heading out to Dom’s house to get him. Instead of taking him in right away, as Brian still considers him a friend, they have one last race.

It was a fantastic movie!

Then came the sequel, 2 Fast 2 Furious.

In this Brian has been kicked out of the FBI for having let Dom go. He has been making a living as a racer, when the FBI ask him to come back and help them take down a drug-smuggler. The have an agent on the inside, Eva Mendes, but need someone to take the job as racer, and with Brian they won’t have to build a false character or worry that their guy will think the whole thing suspect. Brian agrees, but things get complicated fast. He and the FBI agent fall for each other, which is a horrible idea when the  guy you are trying to arrest is a psychopath, and another FBI agent hates his guts and is doing everything possilbe to make this hard for Brian.

It wasn’t as good as the original, but I still liked it. Paul was good as ever.

Then the third one came out, Tokyo Drift.

I don’t know what they were thinking! You can’t have a franchise be built on an actor and then suddeny new storyline, new character, new location. This was dumb, and doesn’t exist.

Moving on to number four, Fast & Furious, dumb name but good movie.

In this Dom and the crew are back together and once again robbing trucks. When the heat is on, they disband. However, Dom finds out that Letty was murdered. When he starts tracking down who killed her, he runs into Brian O’Conner. Brian is back to being a FBI agent again, and is trying to take down a drug trafficker. The two team up, and it’s just like old times!

At the end, Brian is suspended from duty and Dom is sentenced to 25 years. He never serves one as Brian, Mia, and the rest of the gang break him out.

In Fast Five, not only do we have the group heading down the Rio, (the year’s theme as tons of things took place here), but the addition of the Rock, Dwayne Johnson.

The group is supposed to do an easy job of stealing three cars from a train, but discover there is a lot more involved. Computer chips, betrayal by a friend, DEA agents, and of course fast cars. The twist end in this is a final scene that shows Letty is alive!

In Fast & Furious 6, the group is scattered, but as always can be brought back together for a mission. In this the Rock asks for Dom’s help in taking down former British Intelligence Special Agent Owen Shaw. He only agrees after seeing the photo of Letty alive. So once again the group is back together for fast cars and butt kicking.

Which brings us to Furious 7. I haven’t watched it yet as I am still disheartened by Paul Walker’s death. But I’ll see it eventually and am sure to love it too.

Hans Christian Anderson

I’ve talked about him before, but I’ll say it again. Just like the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson is one of the best fairy tale writers of all time.

Also being Danish, I feel a lot of pride in my countryman.

So I’ve probably mentioned this before, but I love fairy tales. I read them over and over as a child and continue today.

Or 10th, 50th, 100th….

In fact I am currently rereading Han Christian Anderson’s work.

Anyways, his fairy tales are amazing, and because he is a Christian, they all have a deeper moral or parallel that he is trying to share with children and adults.

He didn’t write as many stories as the Brother’s Grimm, but the few he did are really powerful. Now I’m just going to list off my favorites with a brief note about them. You really should check him out for yourself.

There is the Emperor’s New Clothes, which teaches you that you shouldn’t focus solely on material objects, but need your sight somewhere else. It also shows you that people can be afraid to go against the grain and would rather stick with what’s stupid, than admit the truth.

The Little Match Girl is a tale of a good girl living in poverty and abuse. She is wearing hardly anything, as they don’t have anything for her, trying to sell matches. To keep herself warm in the snow, she starts lighting matches, every time seeing a wonderful vision, until she sees her grandmother and is taken into heaven. It’s about dreams, hopes, and the eternal reward.

The Little Mermaid is one of his most famous works, but I’m not going into it as I have already posted on it in The Little Moreland. The book is much better than the Disney film as it is about true love and being willing to sacrifice yourself for others.

The Nightingale is about a Chinese emperor soon to be dying. A nightingale comes and sings him back to health. At first he wants to imprison him so that he can only sing for him and no others, but the nightingale tells him he can’t sing without freedom. He is let go and comes back to visit him. Someone makes a toy nightingale for the emperor, and soon everyone prefers this electronic and perverted one rather than the original. The real bird is banished, but unfortunately the new one breaks down from overuse. The emperor is once again sick, and the nightingale returns, causing the emperor to realize the true art was best. Not only commentary on art and artists, but original vs. new technology, the way people are willing to trade “old” for “new”, etc. There is a lot to be said about this piece.

Or story in this case

The Snow Queen is probably Anderson’s longest story as it is actually divided into seven parts. Disney based Frozen on it, but it is nowhere near as amazing as the actual tale. This is the story of not only demons releasing shards of hate and evil onto the world, but of the equally evil Snow Queen. When she takes a young boy, Kay, who’s heart has been turned to ice by her and the shards; his best friend Gerda does all she can to find and save him. A powerful story of love, friendship, sacrifice, and bravery.

The Steadfast Tin Soldier is so romantic. A tin soldier is created, but they ran out of tin so he is actually missing his leg. He falls in love with the beautiful paper ballerina, thinking she too is missing a leg like him. A toy goblin warns him to stay away, but the soldier refuses, and is thrown out the window. He does all he can to return to his love.

How romantic

The Swineherd is one of those they get it in the end tales. In this a poor prince wishes to marry the emperor’s daughter. He sends her his finest rose and the best nightingale, but she refuses wanting the status of someone who has money to buy manmade ones, rather than something beautiful and real. She determines the prince unworthy of anything of her. He disguises himself as a poor swineherd and is able to con over a hundred kisses from her as she desires two inventions of his (a musical rattle and pot). When the king discovers this he throws her out, having been disgusted by her behavior. The prince reveals himself and also heads on his way, happy to be gone from someone who would prefer a swineherd with objects than a prince with true love. The princess is left alone to think on her bad decisions and lost status.

Thumbelina is another cute tale about the beautiful girl only the size of a thumb and how she goes from crazy adventure to the next as she has to overcome many obstacles and creatures who want her.

The Tinderbox is an adventure tale. In this a poor soldier is returning from war when he comes upon a witch. She asks him to go into a tree and get her a tinderbox, taking anything else he desires. When he retrieves the tinderbox and asks why she wants it, she tries to fight him and he kills her. Later he discovers that as owner of the tinderbox he can control three monstrous dogs. Now he uses his power to live well, rescue a princess, and battle a mean king.

The Wild Swans is the last story I will write on. In this book we have a widowed king with a daughter and eleven sons who unknowingly marries an evil witch. She turns the boys into swans (by night they become boys again) and banishes the princess. After struggling, Princess Elisa ends up in the land of the fairies were she discovers that she can help her brothers if she takes a vow of silence and makes them shirts out of nettles. A prince finds her and brings her to his castle, the two eventually falling in love. They are to be married, but the archbishop is against it as he believes her to be a witch, a belief that is in his eyes confirmed when she goes to a graveyard to get nettles. They plan to burn her at the stake with her works, but as the are heading that way her brothers in swan form arrive, and she throws the shirts at them, transforming all but the youngest who is left with two wings. The truth is spoken and all live happily ever after.

The rest of his work is just as amazing and definitely worth a reading!

For more on Hans Christian Anderson, go to The Little Moreland

Hawk Nelson

This was a Christian band that I got into when I was a teenager, and I have stayed a fan ever since. They gave great singers, musicians, and I loved that they still rocked out when it seemed that all music was destined to be pop and  rap.

The only reason why I wanted to see the remake of Yours, Mine, and Ours, was because there are the band in the party scene.

Some of my absolute favorite songs of theirs are: Bring ‘Em Out, Crazy Love, Every Little Thing, Friend Like That, Live Life Loud, Love Like That, Skeleton, Take Me, Things We Go Through, and Turn It On. 

I definitely will be posting on them soon, but you should check them out for yourself.

For more Hawk Nelson, go to Fulfilling the List: A Walk to Remember (2002)

Potterhead

Now I know Potterhead isn’t the official name for those who are Harry Potter fans, but I have been calling my friends that for years. Now this was a fandom I long tried to resist. When the books came out my parents didn’t want me to read them as they were unsure with how they presented magic and the patronus and such. Later they decided that I was old enough to make my own decisions, but by then I didn’t care. They didn’t really interest me.

And then it was everywhere and in everything. And when things get too blown up, then I’m not really interested. And no I am not a hipster.

I just don’t like doing things because everyone else is doing them. I’m not a hipster, I’m just old-fashioned.

So with all my friends being huge fans, and everyone I came into contact with loving it, it became almost like a game, my resisting peer pressure.

It was funny two how they were always discussing whether I was a Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, and I had no idea what they were saying.

I did follow the memes though, and found them hilarious. Even though I didn’t understand all of them.

But then I met this guy and we started dating, striking a deal that for every Harry Potter film I watched, we would watch an equal amount of Jane Austen. (You can read more in What’s the Dealio)

We broke up before finishing the series and there I was stuck at film five not really understanding what was happening. I could have just watched the films with my friends and asked them a gazillion questions, but I decided that wasn’t for me and instead read the whole series.

I enjoyed it, and will post my whole thoughts on it later. I have a super long post in the works as a summary of all my thoughts on the subject. I’m will end with two more things, my favorite characters. One of which is Draco.

Boy does he make me laugh.

My other favorite character is Snape.

Not only is he totally awesome, and played by Alan Rickman, but he’s just…i don’t know perfect. He has a sad past, brooding nature, is a romantic, and all around doesn’t care what others think of him he does what he wants.

Snape I love you. I know I’m probanly the only one, but I really wish you and Lily had ended up together and I think James Potter is a jerk.  Snape 4-EVA!!!!!

Oh, by the way I did finally find out what house I belonged to (on pottermore). I’m a Slytherin. And proud of it.

I guess my love for Draco and Snape makes a lot of sense now. Nah, I’d probably love them no matter who I was.

For more Harry Potter, go to Heaven on Earth

The Princess Bride

I am a HUGE Princess Bride fan. But I actually wasn’t for a long time.

I know crazy right? Well whenever I would flip channels on TV I would always tune in right at the end. For years I would only see the end of the film, and I didn’t quite understand it.

This was back before everything was online so I could either buy it or rent it. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a card to Hollywood Video or Blockbuster.

 

And my library didn’t have it.

Then one year as I was talking to someone about how I had never seen the whole movie, my mom overheard and was in shock. So that birthday, guess what my present was? The Princess Bride. I watched it and loved it! From Westley,

To Inigo,

 

Even Vizzini

And who can forget Miracle Max

And let’s talk about the comedy of it all. From Westley never being killed but always threatened

To the fire swamp

There is so much to say, I just can’t get it all out.

This is just one truly amazing film that I could watch over and over and over again.

I loved it and had become a major fan.

I even read the book (which is nowhere as fantastic as the movie, trust me).

In fact whenever I meet another person who loves The Princess Bride, I fangirl crazily with them.

Just kidding. Although I do love that movie something fierce.

For more Princess Bride, go to Are You the Dread Pirate Roberts?

 

That’s the truth!

For the previous post, go to Fun & Full of Fancy

Stay tuned for part 16

For more on fairy tales, go to If the Show Fits: Why Cinderella is Actually Awesome

For more of my music, go to Counting Stars 

Heaven on Earth: 13 of the Best Fictional Libraries

So if you’ve been following me, you are pretty aware of my love of libraries.

A few months back I tried to get a job at Buzzfeed, who won’t let you apply unless you create posts. So as I was racking my brain for something to write about, I decided to do a post on my favorite fictional libraries. After all:

Sadly, it didn’t get very much interest on Buzzfeed as I would have liked. So I decided that I would repost it on here.

So here we go, my top 13 Favorite Fictional Libraries.

13) Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Guy Montag is a fireman in the future, and as a fireman his job is to burn books. Books are now illegal, and it is up to firemen to root out the secret libraries and destroy them. After witnessing a woman willingly burn alive with her library, it gets Guy thinking about what the books contain. It begins with one book, but ends with Guy questioning everything he has ever known.

Why the library is awesome!: So we don’t actually know what is in this library, but if a person is willing to die with it you know it has to hold some amazing things. Even if the books are only valuable to the owner.

For more on Ray Bradbury, go to Friday Night Fun

12) The Music Man

A conman salesman, “Professor” Harold Hill (Robert Preston),  visits the town of River City, Iowa; and convinces the townspeople that the only way to save their children from becoming bad eggs, is to create a boys’ band. But where to get the instruments? From Professor Harold Hill of course! Marian, the town librarian, is a piano teacher, and the only one who could expose Professor Hill as a fraud, so Professor Hill sets out to seduce her. Along the way Professor Hill changes as he starts to care for the people he plans to con.

Why the library is awesome!: One of the musical numbers is Marian the Librarian in which Professor Hill attempts to seduce Marian by singing and dancing with her around the library. A library in which the librarian and town dance around singing? You get two in one—items to read and a show.

11) The Cat Who… Series

The Cat Who…Series is about amazing reporter  Jim “Qwill” Qwilleran who solves murders with the help of his cats. Qwill was a nationally-acclaimed reporter, until he became an alcoholic and lost everything. The first book, The Cat Who Read Backwards, Qwill is trying to put his life back in order and is searching for a job as a reporter. He joins the staff of the Daily Fluxion as a feature writer. After his landlord, the art critic, is killed, Qwill starts investigating with little clues pointed out by his landlord’s cat, Kao K’o Kung (Koko for short). As Qwill continues his investigations he ends up picking up another cat, Yum Yum. In The Cat Who Played Bhrams, Qwill journeys up north to the small town of Mooseville, and visits an old family friend. He ends up inheriting millions, but in order to get them, he has to remain in Moose County. This changes his life forever.

Why the library is awesome!: Qwill is an avid reader and collects as many as he can afford. When he inherits the money, he also receives a stone mansion with a giant library. It holds thousands of books from rare pieces that are worth millions to secondhand and beloved buys.

For more on The Cat Who… Series, go to The Cat Who Wrote A Blog

10) The Breakfast Club

So the movie begins one Saturday morning when five very different students have been sentenced with detention and are stuck with each other. We have Allison Reynolds (Ally Sheedy), “the basket case” who just came for fun; Andrew Clark (Emilio Esteevez), “the athlete”, who recieved detention for bullying a kid; John Bender (Judd Nelson), “the criminal”, sent there because of his acting up in class;  Claire Standish (Molly Ringwald), “the princess”, caught skipping school to go shopping; Brian Johnson (Anthony Michael Hall), “the brain”, who brought a flare gun to school. At first everyone abides by their cliques, but through the course of the day they all bond together sharing their most personal secrets and working out their dysfunctions.

Why the library is awesome!: A gigantic library with multiple levels and a great sound system! Who wouldn’t want to spend their Saturdays there?

For more on The Breakfast Club, go to The Anniversary of Its Formation

9) My Fair Lady

Based on the play Pygmalion, this musical has Professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) is disgusted with how the English butcher their English. As he is complaining, he runs into a cockney-accented, flower girl Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn). He makes a bet with his friend Colonel Pickering, that he will be able to teach Eliza how to speak so well that people will mistake her for a duchess. Eliza agrees to the bet as she wants to own a high class flower shop. However, they have their work cut out for them, as Professor Higgins methods are helpful, but extremely rude and harsh.

Why the library is awesome!: Henry Higgins may be rude and a jerk, but this professor has one of the best libraries. Why can’t all libraries be like this?

8) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

In the late 19th century, something is destroying ships as they are navigating the seas, cutting huge holes in the sides and completely ruining them. Professor Aronnax, a leading marine biologist, theories that the creature destroying the ships may come from the deepest depths of the ocean, which would give it incredible strength. He joins a crew who has set out to destroy it, taking along his assistant. The ship is destroyed; but Professor Aronnax, his assistant, and whaler Ned Land survive. They find themselves on a giant submarine, the Nautilus, joining its creator Captain Nemo on a journey under the sea.

Why the library is awesome!: This library is a masterpiece as Captain Nemo had thousands of books by the greatest minds. His collection covered science, morals, philosophy, and literature-in every language.

Professor Aronnax: “I thank you for having placed this library at my disposal. It contains treasures…and I shall profit by them.”

For more on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, go to Episode VI: Return of the Favorite Movie Lines List

7) The Mummy (1999)

In 1290 B.C. Egypt, a high priest Imhotep is caught having an affair with the Pharaoh’s woman. He is put through all the death rites, while still alive, and buried in Hamunaptra. Fast forward to 1932, a French Foreign Legion officer, Rick O’Connell (Brendan Fraser), finds himself in Hamunaptra, but lost in the desert. Three years later, librarian Evie (Rachel Weisz) is approached by her treasure-hunter brother Jonathan, with an artifact that he thinks will lead him to Hamunaptra. They pick up Rick O’Connell as a guide, and find the city. As they search for treasure they discover the mummy, and accidentally awaken him.

Why the library is awesome!: Even though Evie makes a mess, most of us book lovers wouldn’t mind putting the library she worked at back together as it would allow us to check out all those books. Plus it holds a map to a lost city that holds the Book of Life and the Book of the Dead.

For more on The Mummy (1999), go to Part X: The Movie List That Would NOT Die!

6) Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade

In this Indiana Jones adventure, Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is on the search for his dad (Sean Connery) and the Holy Grail. His father had been searching for the artifact and disappeared, causing Indy to pick up the trail. He picks up where his dad left off in Venice with Dr. Elsa Schneider, discovering a clue to the Grail. He continues from there to save his dad on the Austria-Hungary border, and discovers a betrayal stemming all the way from the Nazis

Why the library is awesome!: You have a library that has spiral staircases, stain glass windows, and secret treasure underneath. How cool is that? It does rest over the graves of dead bodies…BUT you hold a key to finding the Holy Grail! That’s a great tradeoff.

For more on Indiana Jones, go to And Away We Go

5) The Swan Princess

Derek and Odette were arranged to be married when they were babies. Every summer Odette and her father would visit Derek and his mother in order to get the two to become friends and hopefully, fall in love. The two dislike each other as they don’t like playing with each other. They reach the marriageable age, but Derek messes up with Odette as he tells her that beauty is the only thing that matters. As he runs after them to make up for his stupidity, Odette is captured by an evil wizard and her father killed. The wizard wants Odette to marry him so he can have her kingdom, but Odette says she will never marry the wizard and is turned into a swan, only to become human when the moon touches the pond. Derek searches for Odette and trains himself to be able to handle it. When Derek discovers Odette, the two have to find a way to save her and change her to human.

Why the library is awesome!: So we only see this library for one scene in the film and it rivals that of Beauty and the Beast. Multiple levels, spiral staircases, and incredibly tall ladders to reach everything.

For more on The Swan Princess, go to You Should Write a Book

4) Harry Potter Series

Harry Potter discovers that he is a wizard and goes to Hogwarts School, learning magic spells, potions, and having to fight all kinds of creatures.

Why the library is awesome!: Think of all the magical knowledge within in this place? How awesome would it be to roam these stacks and unlock that. Really explains why Hermione likes to spend so much time there.

For more on Harry Potter, go to A Bit Pottery About Jane Austen

3) Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Buffy is a teenage girl that discovers she is a slayer. She’s equipped with certain abilities that allow her to take down all kinds of monsters-demons, vampires, etc.

Why the library is awesome!: You have a library that holds tons of books for school along with almost anything on the supernatural. Not to mention it doubles as a training area that holds all kinds of weapons. What else do you need?

For more on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, go to Simply Fantastic

2) The Sandman Chronicles

The Sandman Chronicles follows the story of the sandman, or Dream. He was captured and imprisoned, but manages to escape after years, and then has to right his dominion and the rest of the world. These series combines Christianity, mythology, Shakespeare, and more.

Why the library is awesome!: The library in Dreaming holds every book ever dreamt of, even those that were never written. How awesome would it be to roam those stacks?

For more on The Sandman Chronicles, go to Dreaming of the Sandman 

1) Beauty and the Beast

Belle loves to read and finds it hard to relate to anyone in her town. Her father goes out of town on business and gets lost, staying over at a castle he finds. He upsets the owner and is kept prisoner, that is until Belle offers herself in her father’s place.

Why the library is awesome!: Do I really need to explain how awesome this library is? I’m sure every book lover has fallen in love with it. Multiple levels, spiral staircases, and comfy chairs in front of the fireplace-it’s a dream come true.

Yep:

For more on Beauty and the Beast, go to You’re Doing It Wrong

Yep these are some of the greatest libraries ever, and I hope the one I create is even a fraction of these.

For more on libraries, go to When in Doubt

For more book filled posts, go to Taking in Strays

For more of my favorite quotes, go to Perfectly Imperfect

For more quizzes, go to Fandom Love

Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Roads

So it’s that time of the year again!

It’s time for our year in review! This is a time to reflect on what the past year held for us, the big posts, what’s new, and what you all seemed to like the most. 😀 Something I did this year that I have never done before is post every single day, in fact I have reached my 300th and 400th post in this year.

So even though what I have listed below may seem like a lot, especially compared to the previous year’s reviews, this post is actually only covering a few things. You really should check out the year yourself. To start at the beginning go here.

1) The Views

This year I had 31000 views!!!! Isn’t that amazing! I had only 9,542 views last year, which means this blog has widely grown! I have all of you to thank along with twitter and the good people at Buzzfeed who have been using my pics and linking them back to me. The top viewed day was October 11, in which I posted my review of Scream 2, It’s Happening Again, Isn’t It?: Scream 2.

2) The Number One Post

The number one post this year came during my 30 Days of Disney (see #17) in which I wrote about my favorite Disney princess. Since Disney has acquired Lucasfilm that makes Princess Leia a Disney Princess, and, in my opinion, the ultimate one. To read more go to A True Princess.

Second place went to a post from my first Valentine’s Day countdown, Fulfilling the List: A Walk to Remember. In third was a post from my 2013 Halloween countdown, I Saw Goody Osburn With the Devil: The Crucible. In fourth place a post dedicated to my sixth month anniversary, Happy Anniversary. And rounding out this list we have in fifth place, a post all the way from my first holiday countdown, Horrorfest, A Monster Race: Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf. 

3) The Followers

So this community has really grown in numbers and I can not describe how pleased I am about that. We have gone from 14 followers in 2012 to 42 followers in 2013, and are now at 169. That’s amazing!

So enough about the statistics and numbers! Let’s move on to what was covered this year and what changes I have made to the blog!

4) Quotable Quotes

I started a new category this year called Quotable Quotes. These are different quotes from books or sayings that I just absolute adore. Since I’ve added it, I’ve had a gazillion of them posted. In fact, almost every post has a quote or saying now incorporated in it. Be sure that 2015 will bring many more!

For more on Ayn Rand, go to In Their Proper Place: Metropolis (1927)

For more Quotes, go to The Final Chapter

5) Social Media

This year I have expanded myself throughout social media! I am on facebook, twitter, and tumblr. Follow me for extra goodies, including my #ManCandyMondays and #FilmFridays.

6) Quizzes

Go here to see who you are

Another new category I added this year was quizzes. Everyone loves personality quizzes, right? Well I’ve decided since I love to take them, that I might as well incorporate them in my posts. They are fun, and I always include the link so you can take your own.

For more Quizzes, go to What a Fanatic!

For more on Mean Girls, go to Food, Food, Food!

7) Chinese New Year

With 2014 we saw a return of the Chinese New Year post, but it being a bit different. Because there are so many lovable Horse characters, I decided to list 14 of my favorite fictional horses from books and movies; instead of favorite moments involving horses. To read the post, go to A Horse’s Tale. 

8) Romance is in the Air: Part II

I brought back my Romance is in the Air: 14 Most Romantic Moments. I have to say some of them may be unusual, but my blog, my choices. The movies I covered were: It Happened One Night (1934), It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), Roman Holiday (1953), Mystic Pizza (1988), The Little Mermaid (1989), Anastasia (1997), Flintstones Viva Rock Vegas (2000), Princess Diaries (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), Love Actually (2003), The Notebook (2004), Persuasion (2007), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II (2011), and Catching Fire (2013)

9) Scenes from My Life 

As every year I like to include little snippets of my everyday life. Such as my brush with death in Final Destination: Bike Edition. A weird experience in the mall, A Trip to the Mall Turns Into the Twilight Zone. Getting attacked in Snow White of a Day. Phone harassment by an ex-girlfriend in Do You Know Where Alex Is? A teddy bear I could NOT get rid of no matter how hard I tried in The Teddy Bear that Would NOT Die! My views on clothes of the day in Fashion Show. A day of incredibly BAD luck in Just One of Those Days…Nights…No Days. How ordering pizza can be more than ordinary in Pizza Delivery. My attempt to start a revolution and its failure in Viva La Révolution. My attempts to dye my hair in That Girl is Poison. An exercise attempt gone horribly wrong in The Little Moreland. A chance meeting with a really hunky guy in Just a Moment. How chickens really hindered my day in Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?  And an attack by a Christmas Tree in O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree.

10) My Favorite Movie Lines

As promised I brought this back! I tried to post every month 100 of my favorite movie lines: Episode III: Revenge of the My Favorite Movie Lines, Episode IV: A New Favorite Movie Lines List, Episode V: My Favorite Movie Lines List Strikes Back, Part VII: It Was Said One Night, Part VIII: The Little Movie Line List, and Part IX: Adventures in Movie Lines.

In June I did a whole post on my favorite Disney movie lines, Episode VI: Return of the Favorite Movie Lines List. In October I did a post on my favorite horror film lines, Part X: The Movie List That Would Not Die. And in November, I did an ’80s themed post: Part XI: A Movie Lines List Excellent Adventure.

11) Verne’s Back

2014 saw the conclusion of the Verne Saga. Some of you may have read my Verne Saga, but for those of you who have never heard of it before, Verne was a guy who kept hitting on me and never leaving me alone. Everytime I thought it was over, he’d pop up again. Although this last sighting was the very last one…I hope.

To read the Verne Saga from the beginning,  go to Flirting With Disaster

13) Honoring Pride and Prejudice

Two years ago marked the 100th birthday of Pride and Prejudice and I was hoping to do extensive posts on the book; going over the novel, reviewing books based on it, movies, TV series, etc. Unfortunately, things happened and I was unable to continue. However, I did pick it up this year, and here are the posts I did on it. In Flu Season I talk about how Kitty is treated unfairly. In Just Can’t Get a Break I discussed how worse off Mary has it. In First Impressions, I talked about all the wrong things Mr. Darcy did when he was introduced to everyone. In Oh NO YOU DIDN’T I wrote on Elizabeth’s reaction to Darcy calling her “tolerable.” In The After Party, I wrote on how one always discuses what went on during a dance when it has ended. In An Assembly Such As This, I reviewed Pamela Aidan’s first novel in the Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman series. Be assured there are plenty more to come.

Now when I was working on going through the novel, I decided it was unfair to the rest of the works to ignore them all. So what I have decided is that I am going to try and do all at the same time. Reading so many chapters in one, and matching that in all the others. Of course, along with doing books based on, films, etc. I have already started on Sense and Sensibility. 

I have so far done only one post on it, A Family Affair, but there are plenty more coming. I also will be doing something on Emma as December 25th marks her 100th birthday as well.

14) Painted Portrayals

For Easter, I once again discussed different pieces of Art that depicted Christ. This year I chose The Last Supper by Juan de Juanes, Duccio’s Betrayal of Christ, and Reubens’ The Elevation of the Cross. 

15) Musical Stylings of Me

So I continued my posts of my favorite songs. This year I covered The Final Countdown by Europe, Unbound (The Wild Ride) by Avenged Sevenfold, Carry on Wayward Son by Kansas, Na-Na-Na (Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na) by My Chemical Romance, Highway Star by Deep Purple, Rock You Like a Hurricane by The Scorpions, Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace, and In Love with the ’80s (Pink Tux to the Prom). There will be many more as I love music!

16) Scenes of Supernatural

Since my love of Supernatural is extremely strong and I include stuff from them all the time (i mean they have a gif for everything), I have also included a Supernatural category this year. There is plenty in the past and even more of Supernatural in the future.

For more on Supernatural, go to I Before E, Especially After P

17) 30 Day Challenge: Disney Edition

Every day in the month of June I did a post on something I love about Disney. I’m such a Disney girl, that these were hard choices but I was able to complete them all. Day 1) Your Favorite Disney Princess, Day 2) Your Favorite Disney Prince, Day 3) Your Favorite Disney Heroine, Day 4) Your Favorite Disney Animal, Day 5) An Underrated Disney Movie, Day 6) Your Favorite Disney Villain, Day 7) Your Favorite Disney Male Sidekick, Day 8) Your Favorite Disney Female Sidekick, Day 9) A Disney Film You Like but Others Hate, Day 10) The Most Aesthetically Pleasing Disney Film, Day 11) Your Favorite Disney Song, Day 12) Your Favorite Disney Love Song, Day 13) Your Favorite Disney Villain Song, Day 14) Your Least Favorite Disney Song, Day 15) The First Disney Movie You Ever Saw, Day 16) A Disney Movie that Makes You Laugh, Day 17) Your Least Favorite Disney Classic, Day 18) Your Favorite Disney-Pixar, Day 19) Your Least Favorite Disney-Pixar, Day 20) Favorite Disney Sequel, Day 21) A Disney Movie that Makes Your Cry, Day 22) Saddest Disney Death, Day 23) Your Favorite Disney Theme Park Ride, Day 24) Your Favorite Disney Kiss, Day 25) Your Favorite Disney Classic, Day 26) Your Favorite Disney Original Movie (DCOM), Day 27) Your Favorite Disney Hero, Day 28) Your Favorite Scene from Your Favorite Disney Movie, Day 29) Your Favorite Disney Remake, and Day 30) Your Favorite Disney Character of All-Time.

18) Getting Over a Heartbreak Series

This July I started a series of songs to help someone get over a break up. I would post every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from July to September. It was a lot of work but fun as well. The songs I chose were If It Means a Lot to You by A Day to Remember, The End by Silverstein, I Don’t Love You by My Chemical Romance, Now You’re Gone by Everyday Sunday, Heartbreak Hotel by Elvis Presley, Good or Bad by Action Item, Love Stinks by The J. Geils Band, That’s What You Get by Paramore, Chin Up Kid by Forever the Sickest Kids, I’ll Be Alright Without You by Journey, For a Pessimist, I’m Pretty Optimistic by Paramore, Missing You by John Waite, Gone Forever by Three Days Grace, Put Me Out by The Used, But It’s Alright by Huey Lewis & the News, Since U Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson, Move Along by The All-American Rejects, Up and Up by Relient K, Red Rubber Ball by The Cyrkle, Over You by Daughtry, I Don’t Want to Be in Love (Dance Floor Anthem) by Good Charlotte, Here I Go Again by Whitesnake, Love Will Find a Way by Pablo Cruise, Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey, The Lining is Silver by Relient K, Whip It by Devo, Be Good to Yourself by Journey, Any Way You Want It by Journey, Unbound by Avenged Sevenfold, Here I Go by Relient K, and I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor.

19) Harry Potter

So this year I read all the Harry Potter books and saw all the movies. I am planning on doing a post on my thoughts of them soon. (I just have so many ideas and never enough time!) But because of that, I included a new category on Harry Potter and have mentioned it in many posts. And, yes I am a Slithryn, just like my favorite character Snape.

For more on the Harry Potter Series, go to When in Doubt

20) Horrorfest III

So this was the third installment of my horrorfest series, that is 31 days of horror films or Halloween episodes.

I covered the following films this year: Metropolis (1927), The Wolf Man (1941), Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Laura (1944),  Under Capricorn (1949), Dial “M” for Murder (1954), I Was A Teenage Werewolf (1957), Queen of Outer Space (1958), Jaws (1975), An American Werewolf in London (1981), The Terminator (1984), Scream (1996), Scream 2 (1997), Phantoms (1998), Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman (2000), Scream 3 (2000), Along Came a Spider (2001), The Ring (2002), When A Stranger Calls (2006), The Mist (2007), The Lovely Bones (2009), Vampires Suck (2010), The Wolfman (2010),  Scre4m (2011), Godzilla (2014), and Gone Girl (2014). 

I also reviewed the following TV episodes: Happily Ever Aftermath from Grimm, Monster Movie from Supernatural, Tuesday the 17th from Psych, and Who’s Afraid of Cory Wolf? from Boy Meets World, 

And I did a post on 100 of my favorite movie lines from horror films, Part X: The Movie List That Would Not Die. 

21) The Fifth of November

So celebrating the 5th of November isn’t exactly new as I have done it in the past. However, the last time I did it, it was on Doc Brown’s amazing idea of Time Travel. This year I did it on V for Vendetta. To read the post, go to Remember, Remember the 5th of November.

22) Fandom Posts

This year I started a series of posts on things I am a huge fan of or fandoms I am in. It was supposed to just be one post, but instead has become very many. I post every Sunday, with each post covering six of the things I fan over. So far I have covered: Agatha Christie, Alfred Hitchcock,  Anne of Green Gables, Archie Comics, The Avengers, Avenged Sevenfold, Awkward, Back to the Future, Batman, Bones, Boy Meets World, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Captain America, The Chronicles of Narnia, Copper, Criminal Minds, CSI, DanisNotOnFire/Dan Howell, Deadwood, Diagnosis Murder, Disney, Downton Abbey, Frank Peretti, The 4400, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Friday Night Lights, Game of Thrones, Garfield, Gilmore Girls, The Godfather, and Jane Austen

If you would like to check these out, go to Fanning All Over the Place, Simply Fantastic, Fantastic Fantasies, A Whole Lot of Fanfare, and What a Fanatic!

23) Thanksgiving

Two years ago I did a Thanksgiving post, and I decided to do it again this year. I not only talked about what I’m thankful for, but pie, Twin Peaks, and Supernatural.

Last year I mentioned I found this on Pinterest:

But I ended up with so much stuff I actually had to do a shoebox full. Just so you all know, I will be posting on that shortly.

So happy 2015 everybody!

And don’t forget to dress like this!

And this!

May this year be as awesome as always imagined!

To read a review of the year 2013, go to Looking at the Past, Focusing on the Future

For the review of the year 2012, go to Looking Back, Moving Forward

For more on Back to the Future, go to Just a Friendly Reminder

When In Doubt

As the caped crusader points out, there is no place better to head to. After all:

This was my favorite quote in the whole Harry Potter series. You see I love libraries. Whenever I’m lost I always seem to find them. In college, I spent so much time in the library, people thought I worked there. I just love being with all the books, the quiet, etc.

Me

Yep, a library will always be the best place you could go. After all:

So what are you waiting for? Get thee to a library!

For more on libraries, go to Conan the Librarian 

For more on my love of books, go to Simply Fantastic

For more Batman, go to Fanning All Over the Place

For more on J.K. Rowling, go to I Will Survive

For more Harry Potter quotes, go to Part XI: A Movie Lines List’s Excellent Adventure

For more of my favorite quotes, go to A Sense of Sense and Sensibility